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HARRISBURG - House lawmakers are grappling with an unintended consequence of a state law enacted to financially help firefighters who become ill with cancer.

They are receiving reports that some insurance companies are dropping workers' compensation coverage for volunteer firefighters as a result of this law, which guarantees benefits to those who meet specific criteria. The House Veteran Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee held a hearing this week on the issue and plans to monitor the situation in the next session.

The law, which got support from a number of lawmakers representing Northeast Pennsylvania, provides that firefighters can receive workers' compensation if they develop cancer and can establish it was caused by direct exposure to carcinogens at a fire or hazardous material accident. The law establishes a rebuttable presumption that a cancer suffered by a firefighter with the required years of service and exposure is considered work-related.

Under the law, a firefighter would have to participate in continuous firefighting duty for four or more years and have successfully passed a cancer-free physical exam prior to making a claim or engaging in firefighting duties to be eligible. "The General Assembly approved Act 46 because we want to ensure that we are appropriately compensating firefighters who develop cancer as a result of their service to our communities," said Rep. Stephen Barrar, R-160, Boothwyn, the panel chairman. "The insurance industry was involved in the drafting of Act 46. ... Never during the public hearings, meetings and discussions regarding this legislation did the industry indicate that it would drop coverage for our firefighters."

Since the law took effect in July 2011, 67 firefighters have filed petitions seeking workers' compensation benefits under its provisions, said Elizabeth Crum, a deputy secretary at the state Department of Labor and Industry. In most cases, volunteer firefighters are covered under the workers' compensation polices of the municipalities they serve. An alternate option for coverage exists with the State Workers' Insurance Fund. Many of the private insurers who have policies covering volunteer firefighters are taking a wait-and-see approach on whether to renew those policies, said Ms. Crum in testimony.

In addition, SWIF has received 131 applications from fire companies for coverage and 107 policies have been issued as of last week.

Insurers were told that few workers' compensation claims would be made under the terms of Act 46, but there has been an explosion of claims, said Robert Anspach, director of insurance services for PennPrime, a shared risk pool to provide workers' compensation coverage to municipalities.

He said the law should be rewritten to reduce the cancers eligible for claims and give municipalities more control over volunteer fire companies.

The law uses the best scientific methods to determine the types of cancer directly related to firefighting and doesn't need any changes, said Donald Konkle, executive director of the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute.

"When examining the cost of providing fire protection, we must also examine the value provided by fire departments," said Mr. Konkle. "The Pennsylvania fire service provides an estimated $6 billion in avoided costs to our local governments. Additionally, the cost of homeowner's insurance is reduced because of the quality of our fire departments."

Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com

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